"Vivians's Legacy in Switzerland" is a collection of contributions from ten years of research on forest dynamics following windthrow. One group of articles reports on research at four study sites set up in windthrow areas in the Swiss mountains after the severe winter storm Vivian in 1990. The windthrow-induced ecosystem processes were compared in three different experimental units: (1) uncleared, (2) cleared, and (3) cleared and planted treatment. The processes studied include changes in faunal biodiversity, dynamics of saproxylic beetles, disturbance of microsites and early tree regeneration, humus dynamics and changes in rooting patterns, natural and planted stand regeneration, dynamics of ectomycorrhizal fungi, avalanche activity, and surface erosion. Another set of contributions are based on investigations at other research areas in Switzerland and the Urals. They deal with forest regeneration in stands of dead trees killed by bark beetle attack, with the impact of browsing ungulates on plant cover and tree regeneration, and with the restoration of natural forests in the Urals. A further paper is on the influence of stand structure on storm damage based on a comparison of the storms Vivian and Lothar. There is also a review paper presenting in incident analysis of the 1999 winter storm Lothar. Finally, a decision support tool for managing storm-damaged forests is presented.
